Views of poverty skewed by economic class

ROCKFORD — Economic class skews views of poverty and hampers efforts to effectively address it, said Jodi Pfarr of Bridges Out of Poverty.

Pfarr, of Minneapolis, was the presenter today of a daylong seminar entitled “The Effects of Poverty on the Individual and Community Health,” held at Giovanni’s Restaurant & Convention Center.

About 200 people, many social service workers, attended the workshop presented by the Rockford Health Council.

“We’ll set up an agency with good intentions but it is from a middle-class view,” said Pfarr. “We need to be conscious of how class affects you and others.”

John Lanphear, the council’s chairman, said healthy communities are proactive, not reactive.

“Good health is more than just the absence of disease,” said Lanphear, who cited safety, affordable housing, accessible transportation, work for all who can work, sustainable ecosystems and access to health care services that focus more on prevention.

Pfarr said agencies often don’t take into account the needs of their clients, who may have issues with transportation, child care and jobs that prevent them from making appointments between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., the traditional middle class work schedule.

“Do we intentionally gear it toward them or do we set it up so it works best for you and misses what is best for them?” she asked.

She said agencies need to collaborate, using technology and standard forms so that a client doesn’t have to show up for one appointment and fill out an 18-page intake form and fill out a different 24-page form when they show up someplace else.

Pfarr said people in poverty are usually talked at, not talked to like the middle class. They’re used to conversations geared toward them and being heard.

While gym memberships and veggies may be embraced as avenues to health to the middle class, it may not resonate the same with someone from the lower class.

“If I come into an agency and they start talking to me about eating broccoli and exercise, what have they told me?” she asked. “They think I’m fat.”

Pfarr said that’s why it’s vital that agencies adjust to the needs of their clients, and developing employees who have meaningful relationships and including them in conversations with those clients.